UK Shared Prosperity Fund

UK Shared Prosperity Funds were awarded to London & Partners, for three distinct business support programmes. Find out more about each below:

Grow London Early Stage

Grow London Early Stage is a free business support programme for early-stage growth companies in high growth sectors, who support sustainable and inclusive London growth.

It supports these companies to scale, create or retain jobs, and adopt new or improved products or services. The programme strongly focuses on supporting underrepresented founders.

It also acts as a single front door, for early-stage businesses to easily access the right advice and support. It's delivered with expert London ecosystem partners, in the following sectors:

• net zero (Cleantech and climate tech start-ups focused on decarbonisation)
• circular business access to public partnerships
• sustainable fashion (start-ups focused on environmentally sustainable fashion)
• aspiring exporters (focusing on under-represented founders)
• life sciences
• technology.

Grow London Global

Grow London Global is a free 12-month programme for London-based companies wanting to expand internationally. It's the Mayor’s International Business Programme successor, helping 1,300 London scaleups including Monzo, Bloom & Wild, Brompton Bicycles and Revolut reach global expansion goals.

The programme offers expert advice, workshops, events, and partner, corporate, investor and peer networking opportunities. It also offers unrivalled opportunity for valuable contacts, in target markets on worldwide trade missions.

Grow London Local

Grow London Local is London’s new single front door for small and micro business support. With a searchable provision database alongside AI-driven diagnostic tools, Grow London Local matches entrepreneurs to the right support for a thriving business.

For financially vulnerable entrepreneurs facing additional barriers - in particular those who are female, disabled or from Black, Asian or other Minority Ethnic groups - the programme has community- based Business Support Managers team. They provide in-person diagnostics and business support referrals.

In addition, Grow London Local markets its activity, engaging with local communities so entrepreneurs know the service exists for them.

This programme, worth over £11m, supports three key activity strands.

Universal Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) 

£.5m will support young Londoners Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), so they can develop interpersonal skills that increase employability. This helps them progress into education, employment or further training. 

Targeted NEET (NEET)

£5m will support young Londoners who are NEET, furthest from the labour market and experiencing multiple disadvantages, and/or with significant additional support needs. This intervention lets them develop interpersonal skills increasing their employability, so they can progress into education, employment or further training. 

Quality work experience for student at risk of NEET

£2.25m will commission quality work experience provision for young people at risk of becoming NEET, aged 16-19 OR 16-25 for students at NEET risk who also have an education, health and care plan (ECHP). 

The project funding list across the 3 strands can be found below (more individual project details will be added here in summer 2024). 

To focus and design the Support for Young Londoners bidding round, in spring 2023 the Mayor consulted over 300 stakeholders. This included skills and training providers, local authorities, schools, colleges, business representatives, voluntary and community sector organisations and young people with NEET experience, or who face other disadvantages.

Read a consultation findings summary report

The below prospectus and project requirement documents from the now-CLOSED Support for Young Londoners bidding round can be found below. Read the:

• prospectus 
• Universal NEET (UNEET) project requirements
• Targeted NEET (TNEET) project requirements
• Work experience (WEX) project requirements

'Support for Young Londoners' projects

£25m has been directly allocated to the four Sub-Regional Partnerships (SRPs) and their Boroughs to support, by March 2025, 7,000 economically inactive* and unemployed Londoners, including benefit recipients, who require additional support outside mainstream provision. It offers them the skills they need to progress in work and life.

*Economically inactive refers to individuals who are not looking for work and/or those who are available to start work. 

The funded strands of activity are:

• supporting disadvantaged groups
• additional activities supporting the delivery of the ‘No Wrong Door’ initiative.

SRPs play a key role in delivering inclusive growth across the capital, bringing together local authorities, businesses, anchor institutions and communities on a range of issues. 

London’s SRPs include West London Alliance, South London Partnership, Central London Forward, and Local London (covering south-east and north-east London).